New district lines causing shift in representation

The State General Assembly has finished its redistricting work, but Moore County Commissioners are still struggling to establish district lines and residency boundaries of their own. Under the new district lines drawn by the republican-controlled general assembly, Moore County will be represented by a new state senator, Jerry Tillman of Asheboro. State Senator Harris Blake has announced his retirement. The new district includes all of Randolph and Moore Counties. And Moore will no longer be represented by 13-term Congressman Howard Coble, but by Congressional Newcomer Renee Elmers. State Representative Jamie Boles’ District 52 remains largely unchanged. Meanwhile, county lawmakers, confronted with five redistricting options, failed to settle on any of them. New maps were prepared by the county office of general information services which provides mapping technology for a number of county agencies. In Moore County voters are free to choose candidates from all five districts. The county’s population, 88-thousand at last count, is unequally distributed, causing a representation imbalance. Responding to a League Of Women Voters complaint, commissioners responded with computer generated districts. The unhappy result was even further confusion and the matter was deferred for further study.